“It just goes to show that he is as much a transactional, practical and self-interested politician as his contemporaries,” Sana Jaffrey, a research fellow on the Australian National University who focuses on Indonesian politics, said of the president’s divided loyalties.
“He’s just not able to let go of power yet.”
Can the emergence of Jokowi’s “political clan” increase Prabowo’s probabilities within the presidential race in Indonesia?
Can the emergence of Jokowi’s “political clan” increase Prabowo’s probabilities within the presidential race in Indonesia?
The Presidential Palace didn’t reply to repeated requests for comment.
Jokowi is barred from in search of re-election after serving a maximum of two terms.
In the September poll, Prabowo was ahead of Ganjar 34% to 30%, with the third candidate having the advantage. Other surveys show the race is tighter.
Support for Jokowi, who received 80% support, could have a direct impact on who wins the February elections.
The strongest signal to date about who Jokowi is prone to throw his weight behind was his vast informal network of Projo volunteers, which announced on Saturday that it was backing Prabowo as its favored candidate.
“The president has given us some criteria for his future successor,” Projo Budi chief Arie Setiadi said during a news conference at Prabowo’s home in Jakarta.
“We conclude that the president was referring to Prabowo Subianto.”
Indonesia’s Prabowo is most qualified to turn out to be president, says Brother Hashim
Indonesia’s Prabowo is most qualified to turn out to be president, says Brother Hashim
The endorsement was the most recent and most public move in what 10 sources describe as an opaque “double game” that Jokowi has been playing for months.
In August, Jokowi abruptly summoned the top of Golkar, Indonesia’s second-largest parliamentary party, to the palace and instructed him to support Prabowo, regardless that the party was able to declare support for Ganjar, 4 sources with direct knowledge of the meeting said.
According to 2 sources, the National Mandate Party (PAN) received the identical instructions.
A couple of days later, Golkar and PAN announced support for Prabowo, giving him the party’s largest support base.
This will not be mere patronage, that is impudence the likes of which we have not seen in an extended time
PAN denied this report, while the president’s and Golkar’s staff didn’t reply to requests for comment.
Jokowi also lent support to Ganjar by sending teams and groups of volunteers to work on his campaign, 4 sources said.
Back in September, the president appeared on stage at a national PDI-P event and told the audience that he had advised Ganjar to start out planning for the day he would lead the nation.
“I whispered to him, ‘After the inauguration – the day after the inauguration – you need to become food self-sufficient. Don’t wait too long,” Jokowi said.
A rift appears between Jokowi and Megawati in the Indonesian Kingmaker Battle
A rift appears between Jokowi and Megawati in the Indonesian Kingmaker Battle
Three sources said Jokowi has also engaged in talks on the selection of vice presidents for both Ganjar and Prabowo.
The head of Ganjar’s campaign team said he was not concerned about the claims because Jokowi had clearly expressed support for Ganjar’s candidacy, something he had not done for any other candidate.
The machinations behind the scenes are striking in a country that forced corrupt and nepotistic autocrat Suharto to step down in 1998 after three decades in power.
Jokowi was chosen in part because he was seen as independent from the Suharto-era old guard, while Prabowo is Suharto’s former son-in-law and former special forces chief.
Analysts say Jokowi has deepened Indonesia’s entrenched patronage politics during his decade in power, although this has done little to undermine his popularity in the vast archipelago of more than 270 million people.
“This is not just patronage, it is also an audacity that we have not seen for a long time,” said Jaffrey of the Australian National University.
Recent events also suggest that Jokowi is serious about constructing his emerging dynasty.
His eldest son, Gibran Rakabuming Raka, the 36-year-old mayor of Surakarta, is being touted as a possible candidate for vice mayor of Prabowo, although the minimum age required by law is 40.
On Monday, the Constitutional Court, headed by Jokowi’s brother-in-law, is anticipated to rule on requests to lower the age limit.
Jokowi’s youngest son, 28-year-old Kaesang Pangarep, was recently appointed head of the Indonesian Solidarity Party just days after joining it.
In Medan, Indonesia’s third-largest city, the mayor is Jokowi’s son-in-law, Bobby Nasution.
Jokowi, the kingmaker? The seek for a successor is gripping Indonesia’s ruling party
Jokowi, the kingmaker? The seek for a successor is gripping Indonesia’s ruling party
Given the uncertainty over Jokowi’s loyalties, this placement is deliberate, said Yoes C. Kenawas, a research fellow at Atma Jaya University who studies dynastic politics.
“Ganjar and Prabowo are ‘Jokowi’s people,’ but who knows when Jokowi will step down,” he said. “Blood is thicker than water.”
